OAKLAND–The Warriors have earned their optimism fair and fervently this time.

So when I asked Stephen Curry on Friday if this franchise has the players to win a championship soon, he didn’t need to offer any bit of massaged truth.

“I think so — I mean, we’re young, and we have a great core,” Curry said a day after the Warriors’ second-round playoff exit. “Obviously it takes a lot of things going right for anybody to win a championship. But I feel like we have the pieces to do it.”

Curry said this with the pride and experience of just having taken the San Antonio Spurs to six games.

But as the players trickled into Warriors headquarters for their exit interviews with coach Mark Jackson and general manager Bob Myers, there was an obvious larger truth, too.

As much as it took to lift the Warriors to 47 regular-season victories and that first-round conquering of Denver, it will take more to push them into true title-contention.

Here are five central issues for the Warriors, in the order they’ll probably have to deal with them …

1. When and how will they extend Jackson’s contract past 2013-14, currently his final guaranteed season?

After this stirring run, picking up Jackson’s option for 2014-15 is a no-brainer for owner Joe Lacob, and probably will happen in the next month or so.

But the Warriors probably should look into signing Jackson for the long-term — to assure the current core that their leader is staying around and to attract free agents who like what they saw and heard this playoff season.

2. What happens this summer with Jarrett Jack (unrestricted free agent) and Carl Landry (can choose to become an unrestricted free agent)?

So, given their budget restraints and lack of a first-round draft pick, how could the Warriors land a difference-maker such as Andre Iguodala or key piece such as Eric Bledsoe?

Only by offering Barnes or Klay Thompson in trade talks, and I don’t believe the Warriors will consider moving either young player this summer.

It’s more likely that the Warriors pick up moderate help here and there — the way they picked up Jack and Landry last summer.

4. Can Curry and Bogut use the offseason to make sure their recurring ankle issues are mostly gone by the time training camp starts?

For Curry, it’s not a major red flag any more — he got through the regular season and 12 playoff games without missing a long stretch.

This summer he can focus on strengthening his game — literally, to absorb the contact and help him power to the lane to draw more fouls.

For Bogut, the Warriors’ most important player in the postseason … it’s the whole deal, and there will be no real answer until he shows up at camp healthy (or not) and gets through an entire season (or not).

5. How much of the Warriors’ hope for contention depends on how good Barnes can be and how fast he can get there?

“I know it’s a lot, I guess,” Barnes, 20, said. “I can either work on my game, improve a lot, take some pressure off Steph, off Klay, those guys, not only find the shot but also create for others. If I improve I can obviously help.

“And if not, I guess, be in the exact same situation we were in this year.”

The future is bright. The key players are there. But so is the responsibility: You don’t win championships by standing still; you win them by constantly making the smartest decisions.

It’s third-and-1 at the Chiefs 14-yard line and the Raiders running game was doing well. Instead, Raiders threw incomplete, were pushed back by a penalty and then threw incomplete again in 21-13 defeat.